The Anglo American mining company has confirmed that it will cut 100 jobs at its Grosvenor coal mine in central Queensland, as the mining union warns sacked workers could be left without redundancy packages
The cuts come just months after an underground explosion at the Moranbah site that seriously injured five workers and immediately suspended all longwall mining activities
The minors affected by the job cuts are employed on a casual basis by the labor rental company One Key Resources
An Anglo-American spokesperson said the company had « re-examined the size of its workforce before the safe restart of operations in the second half of 2021 »
« More than five months after production ceased, we took these steps reluctantly to ensure that the mine can continue to support the majority of its remaining workforce, around 650 people, and return successfully to safe production next year, « the spokesperson said
« As a first step, over the past month, One Key Resources solicited expressions of interest from Grosvenor staff for voluntary layoffs
« Beyond what is required in workforce agreements, Anglo American will provide severance pay to eligible One Key workforce affected by downsizing »
But Stephen Smyth, of CFMEU’s mining arm, said workers’ dismissal rights remained in a cloud because they had not been hired as permanent employees
« Some of these employees have been there for five or six years and yet they are all employed as casuals, and now we have a situation where, through no fault of their own, they are going to lose their jobs, » said M Smyth
« Depending on the classification – how they are employed – they will not be entitled to anything for their years of service in their mine »
An Anglo-American spokesperson said the 100 positions that are expected to be cut will include voluntary layoffs and the company will assess possibilities to absorb some of those affected in other roles at the mine
He said the job cuts would be a double whammy in the wake of the underground explosion, which had a devastating impact on the numbers and families of the injured men
« The fact that they hosted an event there and continue to mismanage mine that now has resulted in workers losing their jobs is certainly a hard pill for these workers to swallow », did he declare
M Smyth said the union will consult with One Key Resources and Anglo American next week
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Anglo American plc, jobs, Grosvenor coal mine, workforce
News from the world – UA – 100 jobs coming up at Central Queensland coal mine
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
